


Deeper than Words Extended

by animefreak245



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura & Lance (Voltron) are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Confused Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Lance (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-07-05 02:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15853929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animefreak245/pseuds/animefreak245
Summary: A continuation of sleapyGazelle's "Deeper than Words".Lance had everything he ever wanted. He was the blue paladin of Voltron, he had countless friends, an amazing family life, people to watch his back as he would theirs, second in line to the throne of Altea, and the woman of his dreams agreeing to marry him. He had everything he ever wanted....and then Zarkon took it away. The leader he had fought side by side with, the man he called his uncle, took everything and everyone away from him. Even her. When he wakes up after being asleep for 10,000 years his grieving is still fresh but now he must train a rag tag team of Earthlings to be the new defenders of the universe no matter how hard it is to see someone new pilot the red lion.





	1. The Calm before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Deeper than Words](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/412809) by sleapyGazelle. 



> Hey guys! So not too long ago I read a fanfiction called ‘Deeper than Water’ by sleapyGazelle and fell in love with it. So I emailed them asking if they were planning on continuing the story and if they weren’t if I could continue it for them (and myself). And they said yes! Now there are going to be parts in here that are directly from the original story and I’ll make sure to point them all out. So thank you to sleapyGazelle for letting me do this, you are awesome! And thanks to thesearchingastronaut for giving them the idea for the story as well as your permission to allow me to do this!

_People say there is the calm before the storm. They’re right in some ways. It’s quiet, everyone is going along with their day, nothing out of the ordinary in sight. But those who say the old proverb is wrong about one thing._

  
The once lively white Altean castle roamed silently throughout the space. The halls now empty, the cooks gone, the ballroom with no music, the mice that still roamed the around were unnaturally silent today. In a room far into the castle sat a boy, a prince, not older than an Earth 17 year old, with tan skin, moon white hair, and matching blue markings underneath the deepest blue eyes one could ever see. They were once filled with joy. They were the definition of ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and yet his eyes now were only filled with nothing. No emotion could be found, as if his soul had been sucked out of his body.

Lance sat on his bed holding out a small hologram, one that is only a decapheeb old. He lets the memories of the night play in his head on a constant loop as he continues to study the digital photo. The memories, which once used to bring happiness in his life, now only stewed his bloodlust. If one were to walk into his room they would probably assume he was grieving. They wouldn’t see his hands shaking as he attempts to control his strength nor would they see his deep blue eyes flicker over to where his bayard laid on his dresser. They would see a boy grieving over his lost love besides a man lusting for the blood of a once former ally.

Lance’s grip tightened just thinking of the monster, unconsciously cracking the sides of the small circular projector. The man he had once proudly claimed to be his uncle. The friend he went to for guidance when he was uncomfortable talking to his father. The leader of the most powerful weapon in the universe. The dictator who declared war on the entire galaxy.

The monster who killed his chosen in cold blood.

It took everything in his power to not start crying again. Though he doesn’t think he even could with how much he had since that fateful day. Instead he pushed the sadness deep within his very being along with the rest of his emotions besides the small piece of rage that was the only reason for him even being able to move. He needed to save his emotions for the right time. He needed to save his anger for whenever he was able to face his foe once and for all.

Victory or death. It was the Galra’s motto and for once, the prince knew that it applied to him as well. He knew that going after Zarkon was most likely going to kill him, it’s something his father had warned him about constantly, his sister pleaded for him to stop, his advisor even stepping him trying to convince him otherwise. Lance knew that even if he did kill Zarkon that it will probably be the end for him as well.

There was a sudden shift in the air. Lance didn’t know how he could tell but he knew that something had changed from what it was before. The air felt thicker, like everyone was holding their breath, and it rattled him all the way down to his bones. It was quieter than Lance had ever heard anything. It made his leg want to twitch to create some sort of sound but he held himself together not daring the be the first to break the silence.

_Before the storm is anything but calm._

He felt the explosion before he heard it. The jewelry and clothes he had laying carelessly around the room flung to the side as the castle tilted slightly from the blast, the hologram disk falling at his feet as he caught himself from face planting into his bed, the lights above him flickered in and out. The boy stood up, his eyes lighting up like a fire for once in a long time, and he darted out of his room. Bayard forgotten.

A sinister grin grew on Lance’s face as he raced through the castle. Zarkon had finally arrived to deliver a (not-so) surprise attack. Lance was ready, he knew an attack on the castle was inevitable especially when most of the defenses were elsewhere warding off the majority of Zarkons forces on different worlds. He had his paladin armour ready to go in his pod to get to Blue. He only wished his father would’ve let him wear it besides his casual royal attire: a white long sleeved tunic with gold lining, matching trousers and shoes, and cape over his shoulders that matched his eyes. He wore very little jewlery: a golden crown sat in the middle of his forehead with a tiny blue jewel, blue stone earrings, a golden brace hugging his upper right arm, and a juniberry pin in place of his regular cape clasp. Yet he knew that his father was keeping a close eye on him so he let the argument drop after being dismissed once.

Another explosion apparently hit causing him to lose balance momentarily but he recovered quickly before he fell and kept on running.

 _“Lance.”_ His father’s voice rang out in his head. Honestly, Lance kept forgetting his earrings could be used for communicating since he used his armour most of the time. Lance stopped in the middle of the hallway right as another explosion hit making sure he had to grab the wall for support.

“I’m on my way to the control room, Father. I will be with you shortly.” He replied just about to take off again.

 _“No, I need you to come to the med bay.”_ The prince stood there perplexed. _“It’s Allura.” Allura? No, no, no, no, no, no._ With a new determination, the prince continued running but instead heading over to the med bay. It was just as long of a journey there as it was to the control room but instead of turning right at the training deck, he turned left. The doors opened before he could run into them to reveal the med bay. A circular room with a control panel in the middle, surrounding it was grey panels on the floor which Lance knew were hiding cryopods.

Just like the one that was holding Allura.

His sister stood in a cryopod, the glass making her look like she was bathing in blue. Her long white hair fell to a little past her chest, she wore her long sleeved white dress under a blue tunic top, matching pink marking under-what Lance knew to be-her blue eyes that reminded him of a Balmara’s crystal, purple earrings, and a crown resting in the middle of her forehead that matched his own. What was truly surprising was that it looked like she didn’t have a scratch on her.

In front of Allura’s pod stood King Alfor, his father, in his Altean armour filled with gold and white, matching blue marking under his blue eyes, and a cape just a shade lighter than Lance’s sat on his shoulders. He looked very intimidating to everyone, including his son who knew his father to be very nice and gentle. But now was not the time for him to be Lance’s father. Now was the time for him to be Altea’s king.

Next to Alfor stood Coran. A man only a few years younger than Alfor, with bright orange hair, a matching mustache, matching blue markings under his blue eyes wearing his usual dark blue suit. Both men watched as Lance stumble his way towards them as the explosions outside of the castle became more frequent with grave faces.

“W-what happened?” Lance croaked out once he was able to reach them.

“When Zarkon first started attacking Allura fell at hit her head.” Alfor explained sadness seeping into his voice. Lance found that strange but did not think much on it.

“What’s her status?”

“She’ll be fine. But there was another reason why I asked you here.” Lance stood up straighter, knowing his father’s ‘King’ voice when he heard it. “Our shields won’t hold for much longer and when they go there is no doubt that Zarkon will board the castle. I plan on making sure that does not happen by going to his ship myself while Coran brings you and Allura to a nearby planet.” Lance’s eyes widened as his father continued. “The lions have been sent away and I am planning on making Zarkon believe I had destroyed them-”

“Woah, woah, woah, woah!” Lance interrupted waving his hands in front of him. The rage he had built up earlier started to surface once again as he replayed Alfor’s words in his head. “You cannot seriously think that I will calmly sit by while you go after Zarkon. No one’s blade but mine should be able to taste his blood.” Alfor and Coran shared a concerned look before turning back to the fuming boy.

“I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter.” Lance couldn’t get a word out before Alfor zapped his temple almost immediately bring darkness upon him. “I love you, son.”  
                                                                                                               ***  
The first thing he felt was the icy chill of the healing pod mixing with the outside air as the pod opened. The memories of that night quickly infiltrated his head waking him up instantly not realizing he was falling over until a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and he landed on a hard chest. It took a second for him to gather his bearings before looking up and his eyes meeting a pair of greyish purple ones.


	2. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Altean Siblings meet the newcomers to the castle and Lance is distressed after finding out ten thousand years have passed so Hunk decides to talk to him about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I did not expect so many people to have read this already! I’m really happy right now, you wouldn’t believe it. So one thing I will say before we get this on our way is that not all of this is going to be rewrites of the show. I want to make that extremely clear. Now that’s not to say that this story isn’t going to have rewrites of episodes, because there are, but most of the story is going to be the paladins time outside of battle and missions. For one, battle scenes are basically on the top of my “Needs Improvement’ list. And two, I want to focus more on how the characters interact with each other. So...yeah….just so you guys are aware…I’m also not too crazy about how I ended this chapter but I felt that it was the best stopping point. Anyway, .LET’S GET ON WITH THE STORY!

“Kaya?” Lance whispered hopefully only to realize afterwards that the color of this person’s hair was nowhere near the shade of hers. Luckily, it seemed as though whoever was holding him in his arms did not hear the name as he gave no acknowledgement. All of a sudden the rage that he had built up for himself started seeping through the mental bottle he had created for himself. His father had knocked him out, ridding himself of the revenge he so craved, and now the stranger in front of him has the same eyes that haunted his dreams. A bright eyed girl with long reddish blonde hair wearing red and white armour with pride. The prince narrowed his eyes, grabbing one of the stranger’s wrists and turned him around so that his back was against his chest with the now trapped wrist being the only thing separating them, he wrapped his arm around the boy’s neck probably a little tighter than was necessary, and spoke louder in his most commanding voice. “Where is my father? Who are you? How did you break into my castle?”

“Lance!” A familiar voice cried sealing the bottle shut once more. Lance had only slightly lessened his hold on the body pressed against him but that’s all it took for the boy to sweep one of his feet from under him, making the blue paladin lose balance slightly, and pushed him away. Lance heeded him no mind as he turned to see Allura being held up by another man-one that tall and very muscular, short black hair with a white tuff at the end, a scar on the bridge of his nose, and one of his hands being prosthetic. It was obvious Galra technology but if Lance had a guess, he would say that the man currently wasn’t a threat….at least in the violent sense. He wore a tight grey shirt underneath a zipped up black vest, black pants tucked into black boots, and a fingerless glove on his flesh hand. He was definitely the best looking man Lance had ever seen.

“A-Allura?” His voice obviously cracked scanning her for any injuries. “You’re okay?” She nodded in confirmation giving him a shy smile.

“I’m sorry we scared you earlier,” the muscular man spoke up turning to Lance. “Unfortunately...we don’t know what you’re talking about. How about we start over and we can see if we can help out in some way? Maybe you can tell us your names.” Allura and Lance stepped to each other still facing the man.

“I am Princess Allura,” Allura stated going into her formal voice “the man behind me is my brother Prince Lance. How did you break into our castle?”

“A-a giant yellow robotic lion brought us here!” Another voice called out. The siblings turned to see the three others that were in the room with them. The person who spoke was a big man with tan skin, an orange strip of fabric adoring his forehead, wearing a yellow shirt under a green vest, tan pants tucked into white boots, and green fingerless gloves. Beside him stood a much shorter person with unruly brown hair, round glasses, a green and white long sleeved shirt with a high collar, grey shorts, and red shoes. In the shadows behind them stood the man Lance had in a choke hold before still rubbing his neck and glaring in their direction. The boy was probably just a hair shorter than Lance, long black hair that just reached the base of his slender neck, wearing a black shirt under a red and white jacket that to the siblings looked like it was missing the bottom half, black pants that were tucked into red and white boots, fingerless gloves, and a belt with a pack on the side.

“How did you get the yellow lion? What happened to Gyrgan?” Lance asked trying control his temper as well as an oncoming headache from so much information coming all at once. The short one with glasses looked over to the boy with the orange fabric mouthing the name, but the boy only shrugged. The prince looked over to the man with the prosthetic-almost certain that he was the commander of the group and asked again with his anger and fear evident in his voice. “What happened to the paladin of the yellow lion?” The man didn’t have time to answer as Allura looked over to him with her eyes wide open, fear written all over her face.

“I’m going to check how long we’ve been asleep.” She said running over to the control panel. Lance was going to continue his questioning when he heard the familiar sound of a cryopod opening. He turned around to see a familiar sight of orange take a step out of the chamber. It didn’t take him long to notice the four strangers.

“The castle’s been breached!” He screeched trying to do a flying kick to the leader who dodged easily making him land right in front of the prince. “P-Prince Lance!” He quickly stood up giving him a small bow and nervous laugh. “It is good to see you up and about. I trust you are feeling well.” Lance crossed his arms giving him a glare. “Or….or not?”

“Coran,” He was about to start on a long lecture about earning back his trust when he heard Allura’s sharp gasp. The two Alteans turned around seeing the princess staring at the holographic screen with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Fear started pumping through both of them knowing that Allura wouldn’t start crying unless something truly terrible had happened. “Allura?” She didn’t respond. “Allura!” She shook her head, not say anything as she ran into her brother’s arms and burying her head in his chest. Almost by habit, one hand rested on her back while the other combed through her hair. He could feel her start to say something but he stopped her chuckling nervously. “You’re mumbling again. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“Ten thousand years.” She said with her arms tightening around his waist again that it was starting to become uncomfortable. “We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years. Father, Altea, our whole entire system has been destroyed.” Hearing those words it felt as though all the emotions Lance had bottled up somehow disappeared entirely. Allura kept speaking but he couldn’t hear anything anymore. Everything he had fought for, everything he had loved, his father, Kaya, is all gone. In his mind he remembered his father’s intimidating looks and soft smiles, how every single Altean admired him, how he would always bring them to the juniberry festival even after their mother died, how much he admired his father when he was the red lion’s paladin, and how much love he gave to his family.

Kaya, the woman he loved with everything he had, who had worked from the bottom to being the one the red lion chose to be it’s new paladin, who Lance had respected from the moment he saw her and worked everyday to make sure she respected him as well, who once had a legacy for being kind hearted to even the mightiest foe, who tried not to kill as much as possible because she believed that every life was worth something, now was most likely not even known as a fairytale.

If it wasn’t for Allura’s strong grip on him, he was sure he would’ve collapsed onto the floor. He truly had no words to speak. He knew she was talking about Zarkon, but even his name brought no emotion to the surface. He just stood there with his arms around Allura, his hand stopped in the middle of her hair, and tears filling his eyes. He didn’t hear when Allura stopped talking or when Coran began and he hardly felt it when Coran joined their hug.

Cause the only thing that was bouncing around in Lance’s head were, _I failed._

                                                                                                                            ***

Lance sat at the top of the stairs of the ballroom, having excused himself from the med bay about a varga ago. Memories floated through his mind: his mother teaching him how to dance, his first ball, his birthday celebrations, anything his mind to come up with to bring some sort of emotion. He sighed putting his head in his hands still trying to wrap his mind around...everything. In a span of what felt like a day he went from accepting that he was going to die in battle to finding out that his entire world is quite literally destroyed. And apparently Zarkon was still alive. He had taken Shiro as his prisoner and Coran had gone through the calls brought into the castle throughout their time asleep only to find out that most of the planets in the universe had been attacked by the Galra. The ‘humans’ had no knowledge of the war whatsoever and only found the yellow lion by accident. Allura told them that she will try to get them home as quick as possible but Lance had a feeling it was going to be a lot longer than they would prefer. It was too much information coming in at once so Lance made a hasty retreat at the first chance he saw.

“E-excuse me,” A voice startled him from his thoughts. Lance’s head whipped out from his hands, turning to the boy with the orange fabric on his head who was rubbing his neck with one of his hands. Out of all the humans that arrived, he liked this one the best. He seemed a little nervous at first but had a nice soothing aura about him. One that kept everyone grounded. Protected. The boy gave him a nervous smile that he wasn’t ready to return. “You’re Prince Lance, right? I’m Hunk.”

“Pleasure,” He mumbled turning back to the ballroom. It was a matter of a couple moments before ‘Hunk’ spoke again.

“Mind if I sit next to you?” The prince shrugged, not really caring at that point since it seemed as though he was probably not going to leave anyway. Hunk sat next to him staring out to the room as well. They didn’t say anything for a bit, both lost in the awkward silence. “I’m sorry about what happened to your people. I know it doesn’t mean much, and I know talking about it won’t be able to bring them back, but if you….if you do want to talk about it than I’m willing to listen. If anything else I’ve been told I give out amazing hugs.” _What’s the point about talking about it if he knows it won’t bring them back? What is there even to say?_ “How about you tell me what your father was like? From what we saw earlier it seems like you three were really close to him.”

_I love you, son._

“My father….” Lance started not even realizing when he decided to share “he was the strongest man I have ever known, he was also one of the kindest. He met my mother when he was around my age and they immediately fell for each other. Not long afterwards they got married and it was only a matter of time before Allura and I were born. No matter how busy he was, he always made time for us, especially after mother died from a plague that was going around our system at the time.  He was a natural charmer and a bit of a goofball, something that everyone had said I inherited from him. Every planet he saved, every person he helped, they would always say how kind he was and how he would do anything to make sure to do everything in his power to protect the innocent which is why the red lion chose him to be the original paladin. I wanted nothing more than to be just like him when I was a child.”

“He sounds like a great man.”

“He was. And now he’s gone.” Lance’s voice cracked saying those words. “He’s gone.” The tears that he held back before had now resurfaced and slid down his face. He couldn’t hold them back and he didn’t want to. Not anymore. He curled himself into a ball with his knees pressed to his chest and elbows resting on them as he holds his head. A pair of hands grabbed his waist and pulled him into a hug. Hunk let him cry as hard and loud as he wanted while rubbing small circles on his side. All the emotions, the ones he sealed up in a bottle a long time ago finally spilled out.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before the tears had stopped. How much time had passed before his breathing returned to somewhat normal. But no matter how much time had passed, the hollowness in himself would not go away. Nor would the guilt or self hatred.

“I should’ve been there with him.” He mumbled not caring if it was loud enough for Hunk to hear. “I should’ve been there with him at the end but I wasn’t. He put me in the chamber because I was so caught up in my head.”

“If he didn’t put you in that chamber than you would’ve died too. I don’t know you but I know that you care about Allura. I think both of us know that you would’ve felt so much guiltier leaving her alone to deal with this. Your father made his choice to battle Zarkon alone in order to make sure you two have each other to lean on. If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that all of you are going to get through this. Pidge, Shiro, Keith, and I will help out in anyway we can while we figure out how to get back to Earth. Okay?” Lance took a deep breath in before turning his head a little bit seeing Hunk’s determined face. He let out a weak chuckle before nodding, not trusting himself to speak just yet. The boy smiled giving his side a quick squeeze. “Do you want to go meet the others or do you need a few more minutes?”

“I’m fine now.” Hunk nodded letting him go saying something about wanting to being a good idea to wash his face or something as he stood up. “Hunk.” The boy stopped quirking an eyebrow in a silent question. Lance gave him a small smile. It was sad but genuine. “Thanks.” The other boy nodded giving him a pat on the shoulder before going to tell the others he was only going to be a few more minutes.

 

Once Lance deemed himself presentable he started making his way to the control room with a forced smile creeping up on his face. Walking through the castle was like a whole different experience now. When he was a kid, he never felt as though it was haunted but now….

Now he see the maids rush past as they go to clean a mess he made. Some he sees straightening something that was perfect to begin with or passing by giving him a small bow. The butlers stand tall with a platter of food he can just about smell. His governess waiting for him at the training desk with a small smile and the same lecture about him running late on his lessons. The cooks children running around as he passes the kitchen and their parents staring at them fondly or telling them to behave themselves. Sometimes he sees his father.

One time he’s sitting at the dining room talking to the former paladins, and the others are around the castle hallways talking to a random servant about their day. Making sure that everyone was happy as long as they were here. It clenches his heart with guilt every time. Guilt because he knew he didn’t have the best relationship with his father at the end. And it was all his fault.

He didn’t want to think about his sudden change in mood or the fact that he just poured his heart out to a complete stranger who he pretty much threatened only a few vargas ago. Truthfully he was still angry about his father denying him his revenge, his bloodthirstiness was nowhere near quenched from his long sleep. No. If anything, after learning that Zarkon had taken quite literally everything from him, it had grown stronger than ever. Some twisted part of him was happy that his father was not able to kill the Galra emperor because it just meant that he still had a chance. He can still have his revenge.

With that in mind he finally reached the control room. It was a pretty good size with holographic glass on the side so when the castle was powered up people can see in and out of it, Coran’s central command station sat in front of a platform in the middle underneath the giant Balmaran crystal. Lance knew that when it was called upon, two stands would rise allowing the pilot to fly the whole castle, just like he knew that there were the paladins’ stations next to and in front of the platform that would rise when called. One for each paladin. On each side of the main door were two chambers that the paladins would use to reach their respected lion’s hangers.

“I can’t believe it,” Allura’s voice rang out amazed. Lance raised an eyebrow turning to where she was. She stood by one of the holographic windows with the humans and Coran holding up something too small for him to tell from where he stood. “How did they even survive?” Coran looked like he was going to answer when something…...squeaked? “I can hear them talking to me! He says that they were in the sleeping chamber with me.”

“Amazing,” The small human cooed leaning towards whatever Allura held. “A healing chamber that allows mind melding if more than one being is in there for a prolonged area of time. Can you hear one of the mice or all of them?” _Did he just say ‘mice’?_ Allura looked back at her hands, squeaking reached Lance’s ears again.

“All of them.”

“Interesting. I wonder how that’s possible.”

“Out of everyone that could’ve survived from Altea, it just had to be the mice.” Lance groaned finally making his presence known. Allura turned to him with a glare that he was quick to match. Lance walked over to the group not taking his eyes off of Allura until he reached them and looked down to see the four mice he knew all too well. “Hello, troublemakers. OW-Allura! Don’t kick me!”

“They are not troublemakers,” She argued pulling the mice in like they were her children. He rolled his eyes not even going to attempt to argue with her. _They are going to be even worse now that Allura can understand what they’re saying._

“Whatever, but if I find another item of my clothing with rips in them then I’m stopping their monthly bathes.” He heard the others chuckle but he paid them no mind, not when Allura had a small smile on her face as well. _Maybe Hunk was right about one thing. I’m gonna make sure that she’s okay before I face Zarkon._

“You give them bathes?” The red jacket boy asked both disbelieving and amused.

“Got a problem with that?” Before they could go any further Hunk stepped in giving Lance a small smile.

“Nope, nope, he’s fine with that.” Hunk interrupted hastily. “I guess it’s about time to introduce you to everyone! So over here is Shiro.” He pointed over to the leader who gave him a soft smile and a nod. “Then we have Pidge.” The short one with the glasses who shook his hand. “And then Keith.” Red jacket boy who only glared at him which Lance was only too happy to return. He didn’t stay glaring at the boy for long though as Allura started talking again.

“I know you all are waiting for your chance to go home,” She stated “unfortunately we do not have the capacity to do that right now. Until we do you are more than welcome to stay at our castle.”

“We would be honored to, Princess.” Shiro stated giving her a small smile. Keith and Lance looked at each other each thinking the same thing.

_An undisclosed amount of time living with this guy? Fan-freaking-tastic._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the second chapter is finally done! Now I know that it’s a little weird having the first episode being multiple chapters, but I really wanted to make sure that it went at (what I believe to be) a natural pace. So in the next chapter I will have Allura talk about Voltron and will possibly have Sendak start making his way towards Arus. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I’m hoping to have the next one up within the new few days depending on somethings I have going on right now. Once again, constructive criticism is appreciated. Flames will be flames right back. And I love you guys!  
> If anyone has any ideas for what I should change the name to, please comment with your suggestions!  
> Tumblr page is: http://shadowqueenrules-blog.tumblr.com/  
> Twitter is: https://twitter.com/Anime_Freak245


	3. A Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura and Lance have a discussion about the Earthlings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm sorry I haven't been updating this for so long. Honestly I'm not too big on this chapter but I felt like it was a necessity. After the next chapter the real story is going to begin - I promise! I just think establishing the beginning of the story is really important for Lance's story.  
> I hope you enjoy and don't forget to follow me on tumblr: http://shadowqueenrules-blog.tumblr.com/

There’s a feeling, one that Lance has no name for, where everything that happens to him seem to pull him deeper and deeper no matter how hard he struggled to breach the water. He was drowning in so many ways. Every step to reach his room felt like another tug down. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to see what ten thousand years could’ve done to his things or if some low life decided to come and take some treasures home with them. If the small hologram was still on the floor where he dropped it. It didn’t take him long to reach his room, even though he took the longest route possible, and he stood there like there was an invisible particle barrier that his body was completely intune with. He couldn’t move.

He didn’t want to.

“Your Highness,” A gruff but soothing voice called out softly. Lance turned around to see the leader man….Shiro?....coming from the main hallway. Lance gave a nod to the man as he approached very military like. If the prince had a guess he would say that he was right on the money when it came to that. Shiro looked over to the door behind Lance before looking back at him. “I’m sorry to disturb you but I wanted to offer you my sincere condolences. I know it probably doesn’t mean much but if you ever need anyone to talk to then I am willing to listen.”

“Thank you,” Lance replied giving him a small smile “I must offer you my condolences as well. Surviving a year captive and losing your arm…..it couldn’t have been easy.” Shiro looked down at his arm with narrow eyes clenching and unclenching his robotic hand. Lance realized what he said and winced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“No, no it’s fine.” Shiro looked back to Lance. “I don’t remember much from my time captive if I’m being completely honest.”

“I understand…..well I can only imagine what you must’ve gone through. If you or any of the rest of your group need anything to make you feel more comfortable then please don’t hesitate to let one of us know. We don’t have much, but we’ll do our best to accommodate till you are able to return to your planet.”

“Thank you,” an awkward silence came over the two. Shiro coughed looking around the hallway. “So Coran’s grandfather built this place? It’s amazing.”

“Yep, ten thousand six hundred years ago. The guy was a total weirdo.” Shiro gave out a real laugh at how casually he said that. The prince gave his own chuckle remembering the man. “He was like an older version of Coran, a wild imagination with a heart of gold. He cheated every game that we played and still managed to lose every one of the rounds.”

“Sounds like you two were pretty close.” The younger boy shrugged pushing away the memory of a man with grey hair and a mischievous smile. The older man seemed to understand not wanting to talk about it anymore and changed the subject. “So what’s behind this door?” Lance looked behind him remembering where they stood.

“Oh, that’s my room. I-The last memories of being in there weren’t the greatest.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck not wanting to say anymore. Shiro nodded giving the door one last look.

“You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to,” He said softly. The prince thought to the hologram disk that laid abandoned on the floor, his heart clenched thinking about the damage he might’ve caused. “If there’s anything you want in there I’m sure Coran will get it for you. If he doesn’t then let me know and I’ll do it myself.” Lance looked up seeing complete honesty in Shiro’s dark gaze. He wanted to kick himself for being so obvious but he held himself together to give the older man a nod. Shiro gave a soft smile and left not saying another word.

Lance turned back around to the closed door going through his last memories.

Sitting on the bed, gathering all of his hatred and grief, ready to die in battle, wanted to cover his blade in Zarkon’s blood. The mere thought of it sent shivers down his spine, and it frightened him even more because he knew that there was a sizable portion of himself lying in wait for the next opportunity to face his former friend. For now, that bloodthirsty part of himself stayed locked away, ever growing as the newest grief joined the old, till the time was right and Lance would need it once more.

Footsteps echoed in the hall.

The door remained closed.

* * *

 

“No way.”

“Lance,” Allura deadpanned putting her hands on her hips. Lance huffed turning around to the windows of the control room pointing his nose up in the air. Does he know this looks childish? Yes. Does he care? Not one bit. Allura sighed walking around him till she blocked his view and got up in his face. “You can’t keep pushing this conversation away forever. You know better than anyone what it means when a lion allows someone to fly them. Hunk is a paladin now and if I’m correct than that means the other Earthlings are paladins as well.”

“I’m not just going to pretend that the paladins of old never happened. It was only a few days ago that we were sitting in a war room with them discussing battle strategy and now you are expecting me to act like we didn’t just wake up to find out they’ve been dead for a long time, their legacy forgotten, and to work with four inexperienced Earthlings, two of which have never pilioted before, who just so happened to find Yellow on their planet and got themselves stuck on the other side of the universe. That’s not happening.” It has only been two days since their awakening. The Alteans finally got rid of their ‘sleep chamber knees’ as Coran likes to call it and start working on the Castle’s repairs. Coran had pretty much made it his mission to go over everything in the engine room. Allura mostly stayed in the control area going over any issues with the defensive systems. Lance was pretty much keeping a watchful eye on the others as they wander the halls.

“I don’t believe you have a choice in the matter. You know as well as I do that the lion chooses it’s pilots.” He groaned dramatically falling back on his elbows looking towards the ceiling. He thought about working with the others before looking back over to Allura.

“Okay, Hunk and Shiro I can deal with being Paladins. But I don’t know about Pidge and Keith.” Allura gritted her teeth trying to sooth her in coming headache by rubbing her temples. This wasn’t the first time she tried to have this conversation with him within the past few days but it’s the first that she’s gone this far. He knew she at least understood where he was coming from with the yellow and possible future black paladins.

Out of everyone that had arrived, Lance and Hunk were getting along the best. He was a wonderful person, with a big heart just like the yellow lion needed, neither of them were shocked that the lion had chosen him. Hunk was very curious about their civilization, since Allura and Coran were busy - Lance was more than happy to give him the answers. It was part loving to share what it was like and another trying to hold on for just a little longer. Shiro was very nice as well, he was obviously someone high ranking in his past as the others followed his orders easily, Lance had no doubts that the black lion would love him. All the Alteans has been asked on numerous occasions by him if there was anything that they could do to assist. Unfortunately for him, there isn’t much they can do with the limited knowledge of the technology.

And it didn’t hurt that he was also  _ very _ nice to look at. Lance said it once he’ll say it again. He might be grieving but he isn’t blind.

“What’s so bad about Pidge and Keith? They’ve been nothing but kind ever since they arrived.”

“ _ Kind? _ All Keith does is scowl at everything and talks back whenever I open my mouth! Plus there’s some sort of weird energy coming from him and that weird knife he always has.” He shuddered just thinking about it. Unlike Allura, who is sensitive to pure quintessence, he was more intuned with the spiritual side. He can see a dark energy from both of them trying so hard to burst free, with Keith himself it’s only when he starts to get really angry. So in other words….totally creepy. “And Pidge….he’s just a kid. He doesn’t look too much younger than Coran’s nephew, and he was fifteen decaphebes! This is war. As someone as young as Pidge, and ancients have me, Hunk and Keith - seeing war can have really bad repercussions.” Allura’s eyes softened at his explanation. She put her hand on his shoulder giving him an understanding yet rueful smile. The sight of it made anger swell in the Prince’s body already knowing what she’s going to say.  _ She doesn’t understand. She was never in the front lines. She doesn’t know. _

“I know this is tough, but remember they aren’t that much younger than you are-” With each word out of her mouth the burning in his skin grew more and more intolerable until he finally cracked.

“And look where that got me Allura! You saw how I was like before all of this happened. How do you think I got that way?” Lance screamed standing up making Allura rush back, eyes wide with shock. He could see the moment where the memories start to play out in her mind. Her eyes flashed in fear before she hid it with pity and a small slither of hope. The Prince took a deep breath forcing everything he was feeling - the anger, guilt, frustration, self hatred - in a new imaginary bottle deep within himself. He gave her an apologetic smile taking a step back to give her some more breathing room.

“I understand your concern,” Allura explained calmly “but there might not be a choice in the matter. Like you said, this is war. And if there’s even the slightest chance they are who the lions have waited for then we have to take a chance. No matter what happens you must promise me that you will  _ try _ to get along with them.” Lance rolled his eyes mumbling something under his breath. “What was that?”

“Fine, only because you’ll act like a klamurall if I don’t-OW!” He clutched the back of his head where his sister (rudely) hit him. She opened her mouth clearly about to say something snarky when the doors opened and the possible new paladins walked in with Shiro (unsurprisingly) taking the lead.

“Everything okay here, Your Majesties?” He asked in an amused and slightly concerned tone at the fact Lance still hasn’t come up from holding his head. Allura straightened up giving them an innocent smile as she walks onto the platform. He sighed, straightening up as well (trying to ignore the continued pain), following her lead silently.

“Everything is fine. Lance and I were just discussing something that I feel we must talk to you about.”

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.” Hunk mumbled just loud enough for Lance to hear.  _ You and me both _ . Allura closed her eyes allowing her quintessence to connect to the castle. When her eyes opened a second later, the universal map enveloped the whole entire room brushing everything with a soft blue haze. The humans looked around amazed as worlds they probably never heard of flew past their very eyes. All of a sudden Pidge snapped his head in the Alteans’ direction with their eyes wide.

“Is this about Voltron?” He asked with some hope seeping through his curiosity.

“That is correct.” Allura answered. “Voltron was created by our father a long time ago as a way to protect the universe from those that want to do them harm. Him as well as four others worked tirelessly to make sure of this until their…..unfortunate demise. Now Voltron is needed again after the Galra Empire has tormented the universe for ten thousand years. It is my belief that you four were brought here for a reason. I believe that you are the new generation of paladins.”

“How would that even be possible?”

“Each lion of Voltron is essentially alive,” the Prince explains surprising his sister. Originally he planned on keeping silent throughout this whole deal but he knew much more about how the ultimate defender worked than she did. “They have unique personalities much like you do and ever since the beginning has chosen their paladins. Hunk. When you found the yellow lion, did you feel anything?” The bigger man put his hand to his chin looking deep in thought before he responded.

“After the initial vision of Voltron - super dobe by the way - I felt this really grounding presence in the back of my mind and then it kinda felt like I was standing in the middle of a super sandy desert.” He explained before snapping his head over to his new friend, face growing concerningly pale. “W….wait….does that mean that I’m….?”

“Yes, you are the Yellow Paladin.” Pidge seeing how distraught his friend was gave him a couple pats on the shoulder.

“Over the past few days I have kept a careful eye on each of you,” Allura stated. “And with the knowledge I gathered I can help show you which lion would be your best match.”

“What exactly do you expect us to do with this information?” Pidge asked.

“Preferably if the lion chooses you,” Lance starts “we would want you to help us put an end to this war.” He connected some of his quintessence to the castle before swiping his hand over the map to move until Earth sat in front of them. “We have been going through the signals broadcasted to the castle and have determined that almost the entire known universe has been taken over. They’ve been steadily moving to your solar system in the past few hundred decaphebes. If we do not start working on putting a stop to them then there’s no doubt that your planet will be attacked. Either way we must bring the lions back to the castle. The Galra won’t stop until they find every last one of them.”

“Oh no,” Hunk mumbled. Lance gave a quick look to Allura giving her the go ahead to continue. He didn’t hear much after that as he’s heard it plenty of times before and wasn’t surprised by any of the picks that she chose. Though it bothered him to no end that Keith was assigned to fly Red. He had to bite the inside of his cheek so hard it bled to keep himself from shouting about how wrong it was. How there wasn’t anyone who could possibly take over her spot in the team. He could tell the princess was worried as she hesitated before announcing the purplish eyed guy as the red paladin. He refused to show any kind of emotion, pushing it all down once again. Almost an automatic response.

“What about the blue paladin?” Pidge asked. Lance opened his mouth, smirking just a bit to respond, when red lights took over the control room. Alarms blasted through the hidden speakers, ones the Royals were unfortunately familiar with. They turned around to the front of the room just in time for a holographic screen popping up showing a purple alien with one orange metallic eye and the other entirely yellow.

“Hello Princess Allura and Prince Lance of Altea,” the imposing figure started “my name is Commander Sendak. You will surrender the lions to me or yourselves and the entire planet will be destroyed.” The transmission ended as soon as it began leaving the whole room empty with a tense silence. A secret sinister smile unconsciously grew on Lance’s face as the adrenaline of an impending battle flowed through his veins. He vaguely heard Allura call for Coran asking how long it will be till they arrived over the pounding in his ears.. “Lance,” He turned around seeing Allura’s sharp gaze “you know what to do.”

_ Time to bring her home. _

**Author's Note:**

> That’s it for the first chapter! I’m thinking of changing the name just a little bit just so people can tell the difference between the two. But tell me what y’all think! Honestly I am in LOVE with this chapter and I really hope you are too because this is my first Klance fic that I’m actually posting on fanfiction.net and AO3. Plus I spent like two hours listening to depressing piano music so I could get a feel for what I wanted in the beginning. Please don’t leave flames on my stories, constructive criticism is highly appreciated and will be taken into account but if someone comments with “this story sucks ass” or what not I will flame you right back. I love you guys!  
> Here's also the link to my tumblr and twitter!  
> http://shadowqueenrules-blog.tumblr.com/  
> https://twitter.com/Anime_Freak245


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